Tied at 58-58, senior Kelly Manning hit a deep three-pointer and then a jump shot to give the Bears the lead for good at 63-58 with 1:55 remaining. Freshman Shanna Lei Dacanay hit two-free throws with 9.0 seconds left to seal the victory for the Bears.
Manning finished with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. WU’s two point guards, Dacanay and junior Sarah Schell each had 14 points in the win. Senior Danielle Beehler added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Bears. The Bears shot a sizzling 55.6% from the field in the second half and 66.7% from three-point range.
Rochester took the early 8-2 lead with 16:14 remaining after Emily Bango and Jessie Graham connected from three-point range. Manning, the UAA’s leading scorer at 18.9 points per game, picked up her second foul with 13:17 left and went to the bench. Rochester answered by scoring five of the next seven points to jump to a 17-8 lead with 11:09 left.
Dacanay came off the bench and gave the Bears a spark by hitting two 16-foot jump shots as WU cut the lead to 20-13. Manning hit her first three-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 24-17, but picked up her third foul on the ensuing play and headed to the bench for the rest of the half.
Johanna McNeils hit a three-pointer for Rochester, and then Jessie Graham hit a deep three with 26 seconds left as Rochester jumped out to a 37-25 halftime lead. Beehler led the Bears with nine first half points. The Bears shot 32.3% (10-31) from the field in the first half, and was 1-of-9 from three-point range.
After having just two fast-break points in the first half, the Bears got out in transition in the second half and opened with a 10-1 run to start the half to trim the lead to 38-35. The Bears knotted the score at 44-44 with 13:15 remaining after Schell scored on a fast break lay up and Manning drained a three-pointer from the top of the key.
The Bears took their first lead of the game (49-46) at the 11:41 mark after Manning converted a conventional three-point play. Dacanay again provided a spark of the bench in the second half as she nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give the Bears the 57-54 lead.
Rochester was led by Alex Porter, who dropped in 17 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Jessica Waddell and Graham added nine points each for the Yellowjackets.
Washington University (18-2, 8-1 UAA) returns to action Fri., Feb. 10 at home against Case Western Reserve University. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the WU Field House.